Things That Bind
by Solitary Shadow
Summary: All she wanted to do after breaking them was to fix them again, good as new. But she didn't count on there being a bond between the two that she couldn't do anything about. Archie x May x Maxie in a way.


**Disclaimer:** Pokemon is property of Nintendo and Game Freak. I make no profits from this piece of fiction and do not claim rights to any characters used.

**Author's Note:** Hello. This is my first Pokemon fic and sadly, quite likely my last as well. I had picked up Pokemon Emerald during the holidays for entertainment, and got hooked on the main conflict of the game - Team Magma and Aqua. I'd only ever played Sapphire when it comes to Gen III before, so coming face to face with both sides of the conflict was a fresh experience for me.

I've taken quite a shine to anything involving Archie, Maxie and the female player character. I've called her May in this fic to eliminate OC-ness - calling her Emerald or anything like that just doesn't seem to fit. So this fic is basically a re-take of the scene on Mt. Pyre after Kyogre and Groudon are sent back and the leaders return the Orbs, with strong implications of Maxie x May x Archie. The pairings can really be any combination of the three. xD

There really were quite a lot of hints throughout the game, though. Especially with Maxie and May, who goes from wanting to kill you to helping you escape and also seems to have quite a lot to say to you at Mt. Pyre - but eventually doesn't. I hope you enjoy the fic.

Read on...

* * *

The last time May remembers seeing them is in Sootopolis City. She remembers them standing in front of the gym, watching the skies with blank eyes - not really seeing anything, arguably - and both offering only a hollow stare and a papery laugh when she'd tried to talk to them. Definitely not the strong, proud Archie and Maxie she remembers fighting back then.

May doesn't know where they've gone. She knows that she turned her back for only a few seconds, and when she turned again, they'd both disappeared. Of course she was all set to find them; but what with her being the person she is, she couldn't get any chances until now. It was never meant to go like this; she made the battle with Juan as quick as possible after Wallace pushed her inside - but that sure as hell hasn't left her free to go out searching for the leaders of two criminal organizations. Oh, no, exactly the opposite - even that battle was far too long, she supposes, because her search has been detained ever since. _Leave this to the adults_, they said to her, and investigations are still ongoing. They've found out less than half of what May's known since she first encountered them. Rather pathetic.

It occurs to her that she heard the exact same words from Maxie's lips, that fateful day when Kyogre was awoken. Leave the adults to fix the mess they created, he said, before departing with a stricken Archie on his heels. It's times like those when May loses the will to grow up. Adults are really not that useful at all, if one thinks about it, and the Team Aqua and Magma business doesn't help to improve that thought. She wasn't going to leave the fate of the world in the hands of the people who'd started the mess in the first place, and it's turned out somewhat well in the end. It's been looking like that was the end of her effectiveness, though, because somehow she was left waiting and being forced to move on with her life.

It's been three weeks since the incident occured, and May is now the Hoenn League Champion. She's got fans. She gets recognized by people on the streets. Gym Leaders and trainers alike are dying to have a match with her. But she's less than pleased, of course, because only now is she finally free to resume her search for Archie and Maxie and they could be _anywhere_ by now. She knows both Teams have disbanded forever, she's not interested in how the admins and grunts are faring; they were ordinary people sucked into something _out_ of the ordinary, and it wouldn't be unreasonable to just assume that they've gone back to living a quiet normal life. It's the leaders, the ones who got all that effort involved, that May is interested in.

She still has questions to ask, after all. About what kind of people they were before they became the leaders of Team Aqua and Magma. What they plan to do now. And, most importantly, what their actions indicated during various points of this incident.

May remembers first encountering Archie, his gruff demeanor, his piercing gaze, the chain on his neck glittering around his bare chest. She remembers how he addressed her in that firm, unyielding, mocking - and yet somehow not unkind - tone. She remembers stopping Team Magma's plans almost single-handedly on Mt. Chimney, first encountering Maxie and battling him, noting how odd it was that he had a Crobat; from the first moment that she saw that Pokemon, May has doubted that he was evil at heart. She also remembers sending Maxie and the Magma grunts fleeing, leaving Archie to come up and sincerely thank her for doing so. And if she remembers right, Archie also has a Crobat.

That made her feel odd - stopping one evil and helping another, and getting complimented for the latter. Good thing Archie then figured out she was still on neither side of the argument, and backed off. But that isn't the full story; her confusion over the two leaders' stances carries onto this very day, having started back then. They were not mindless villains mindlessly going about their evil deeds and threatening trainers and Pokemon alike; both teams thought they were doing the dirty work for the benefit of others and that it was all for the good of everyone. Both trying to do that by changing the climate - not a very good motivation, May thinks to herself with a frown, but then humans can get used to loving the idea of anything. The fact that it was such an extreme, and yet completely naive, motivation is partly what leads her to believe that they are truly good, yet misguided, men.

Maxie, she feels, is very similar to Archie. Despite his blood-red hair and sworn hatred for the other man, Maxie - in essence - is really not too different. She remembers Maxie saying similar things to her, in awe of her strength. She battled him three times, twice more than she battled Archie; perhaps the former took to her in that time, because she recalls that Maxie held her hand tight as they escaped from the Seafloor Cavern. Tight enough to feel his burning skin through her gloves. Tight enough for her to be half-dragged to safety as water rose around their ankles. Tight enough to erase all doubts that she meant nothing to him. Later, he showed true concern when they were above the surface, telling her that they would fix everything, and that she should go somewhere to be safe; Archie nodded, patted her shoulder, and ran off behind Maxie. Hollow consolations, perhaps, in the face of the _end of the entire world _- but at least they both cared.

But why did they care, and if they are genuinely good enough men to do so - what are they going to do in the future?

She sits in her secret base and thinks about the two leaders. She's only ever seen them a few times, come to think of it, and even less together. These encounters also had a fair amount of time in between them. She could count the times they've come face to face in two hands and probably still have a couple of fingers left over; but they've left such a lasting impression on her mind. May lolls back on the soft mat and tips out the contents of her bag, a small frown crossing her face as she looks at the things she's accumulated during her journey. A few berries here and there she's forgotten to plant, a pokeblock case, the Go-goggles Brendan gave her in Lavaridge... small snapshots of her journey in a way, she likes to think, but she's looking for one specific item in particular. Amidst the pile of stuff she finds what she's been looking for; a bright golden glint prompts her to pick it up and dust the surface and peer into it more closely.

It's the Magma Emblem she obtained from Mt. Pyre. It had been the key to opening the Magma Hideout in the Jagged Pass and she'd been grateful then that the grunts were careless enough to forget such a vital item where anyone could find it; ever since then, it's been rattling around her bag despite there not being any more purpose to it. May holds it up the light and admires its gleam - it really is quite a pretty gold pin, with the large bold M engraved on it. Now that Team Magma's disbanded, she figures that there's no more harm in putting the pin to good use - she attaches it to a corner of her bag, following several other souvenir pins she picked up along the way, and sets it in front of her for a good look.

The Emblem is a sort of memento bestowed upon her, May thinks with a small smile. She's been collecting things that would help with keeping the leaders' faces engraved on her mind. She's found quite a few clippings about the incident, and some that feature Archie alone - apparently Maxie is better at keeping his face and identity hidden, because he has appeared significantly less and photos of him are not of very good quality. As a result she pictures Archie quite clearly in her mind, but Maxie's image is beginning to fade; but at least the latter left her a physical memento in the form of the Emblem, which she is grateful for. Archie hasn't left her anything, and the clippings are really all she has.

May's been looking around for a while now for any clues to their whereabouts. It's purely by luck she stumbles across Steven Stone in Sootopolis City within a week of having fully taken up her search; he's been travelling around, checking that all of Hoenn has indeed returned to normal and that both Kyogre and Groudon have been sealed away again. As an offhand comment, he mentions that the two leaders probably have been lying low for a while, and that they've yet to return the red and blue Orbs to the top of Mt. Pyre. Having those in possession for too long can harm one's body, he says, and now that they have no more intentions of repeating their plans nor the funds and team to do so, they will return them without doubt. With that, May has obtained the most vital information - if Archie and Maxie haven't returned the orbs already, she will wait until they turn up. She has time to do that now. If they've been returned, she could ask the old couple living there for another clue as to where they've gone and move on from there.

Somehow she does not doubt that Maxie and Archie have been sticking together - she felt something between them back then, something that makes them engage in an eternal conflict with each other. She is sure that it was something beyond just the 'land or sea' ideologies; they could have been arguing about whether cake or pie is better, for lack of a suitable argument, and still fight with the same ferocity they've displayed in this incident. But at the same time she knows that now that they have little else left, they have only each other to hold onto. No matter how hateful their relationship might have been, a bond is still a bond - and who knows, that might be all that's keeping their sanity in place. May nods to herself and brings out her Swellow, ready to fly to Lilycove City to stock up on supplies; after that, she will make her way straight towards Mt. Pyre, and she will wait.

Yes, she has questions to ask. And being young and strong and still ignorant of how life works, she assumes that she'll get much more answers than the investigators ever will.

* * *

May strikes lucky. No need to wait atop the summit, it turns out; she gets there at noon and says hello to the elderly couple who tell her that the Orbs haven't been returned yet. She nods and goes off in search of any Pokemon nearby, because she missed the patches of grass here and there the first time she came up here. Admittedly the wild Pokemon on Mt. Pyre were the last thing on her priority list back then. Rare Chimechos live here, she heard once, and it won't hurt to see if that's true.

She sends away five Shuppets and a Duskull before she hears voices getting closer - one voice soft and low, and the other rougher and louder - and she freezes in place. She knows those voices; she hasn't counted on hearing them so soon, but it's as clear as day.

They've come to return the Orbs.

The elderly couple is presumably just as surprised as she is, judging by the tone of their voices; Archie's gruff baritone rings out audibly, and May listens to him carefully.

"We would like to apologize for what happened," he says, and May notices that much of his masculine fierceness has gone out of his voice. "we got ahead of ourselves... no, we know all too well that we can't... they belong here."

Maxie says something, but she can't hear exactly what he says; his voice is too soft and she's a bit too far away to make out any words. She imagines he's saying much of the same things, though, and comes out of the grass, looking at them from beneath the couple of steps. The elderly couple nod and gesture them forwards to allow them to place the Orbs down themselves. They took them with their own hands, and now they will have to be returned in the same hands; Maxie goes first, producing the Blue Orb from his pockets and placing it down on its pedestal. His fingers seem steady and he shows little reluctance in letting go of the round object, and he lets go after having made sure the Orb is safely secured. He turns back, nodding at Archie; May catches sight of his face then, his expression more tired than before, his cheeks hollow and eyes dull. He no longer looks like the charismatic, cunning leader of Team Magma she remembers; he simply looks like a world-weary man who's seen far too much and now just needs a place to rest.

He doesn't see her yet.

Archie is next. He's noticeably more reluctant to let go of the Orb, keeping his hand on it for longer than Maxie did after setting it on the pedestal. But he does eventually let go, with more vigor and ferocity than the other displayed - perhaps he still feels resentment over not gaining the control the Orb had promised, or perhaps he still has grains of hope in his mind. Either way, he's not the one who can wield that power, and he knows it.

"Thank you very much for allowing us to return them," Maxie speaks, bowing his head - May can hear him now. Archie does the same. Much of the suspicion has faded from the elderly couple's faces, and they return the bow. "now we must be going - we apologize again for the trouble we caused."

"Perhaps you shouldn't leave just yet," the old woman says, smiling softly, as they half-turn around. "the young girl who was here after you back then-" she nods at the Team Aqua leader. "-she's around the summit today. I think she's been looking for you... why not find her and say hello? I'm sure she wants to see both of you."

May's heart leaps to her throat when she hears this; she's trembling despite herself, tense and extremely nervous. She sees the redheaded man raise his eyebrows in surprise; Archie's reaction is more energetic. "... May! But what is _she_ doing here? How would she..."

"She was looking for a Chimecho, I think. They're rare to come by, so I think she'll still be here."

The two men look at each other with half-mystified and half-curious expressions on their faces. May gulps, trying to relieve a knot that has somehow settled in her throat; she's thankful that the fog is thicker than usual and that they can't see her immediately, but on the other hand, she really wants to talk to them. She hides near the foot of the steps and waits for them to come down; although she can't see them now in her position, she hears their footsteps slowly making their way down the steps.

Archie's voice is what she hears first. "I don't know, Maxie, it's a true coincidence. I mean, I wouldn't _mind_ seeing her myself, but what can we _say_ to her?"

"Not a lot," Maxie replies, but he doesn't sound convinced of that himself. "we've seen the news - she's the Hoenn League Champion now - and let's be honest, what's the _Champion_ got to do with men like us?"

"Still... don't we owe her a thanks, at least?"

The girl holds her breath; she can see them now, see their pensive looks and downcast eyes. Taking a deep breath, she comes out of her hiding-place and stands right below the steps; but contrary to her expectations, they pass right by her, apparently too lost in their thoughts to notice. Taken aback, May stares as they just brush past and head towards the stairs that will take them down the summit - she steps forward, with half a mind to chase them and with the full intention of calling out. This turns out to be a _good_ thing to do, because the rustle of her feet alerts Maxie and he spins around to see her.

"What-"

He freezes in place and stares at the girl, who has appeared right behind him like a sort of apparition. Archie turns around at this as well, seeing May in the process - but unlike Maxie, he actually seems _relieved_ to see her, from the way his expression softens. "... Good afternoon, May."

"I heard you a while ago," May says, trying to initiate a conversation; she fiddles with her bag, suddenly feeling shy for no particular reason (and being thoroughly frustrated for it). "you returned the Orbs."

"Yes," Archie replies. "it was better that way. And - congratulations on becoming the Champion."

They still haven't moved from their positions, and Maxie still hasn't said a word. She shuffles her feet lightly, kicking up some dust, before she speaks again. "There... aren't any hard feelings, right?"

The Team Aqua leader doesn't reply, but the redheaded man actually steps forward at this question. May stands her guard, barely restraining herself from flinching.

"... May."

Maxie comes up to her, looks into her eyes - and she's breathless at how close he is. She tenses lightly when he puts one hand on her shoulder (his grip not as tight as before, but enough for her to feel the same heat) and carries on looking at her; out of the corner of her eye, she sees Archie, glancing somewhat anxiously at both of them.

"I..."

A long silence follows, and when Maxie drops his gaze and lets his hold on her shoulder loosen, May realizes (with sudden panic) that that is _it. _The before-leader of Team Magma has nothing more to say to her now; he might be thinking of a million different things to say for all she knows, and yet it's precisely because of that that Maxie will never tell her. No words are sufficient enough to express his feelings, and they will remain unsaid. He gives her one curt nod, and although reluctant to turn away, he slowly turns his back on her and brushes past Archie, walking away from her forever. His pace slows when he passes by the Team Aqua leader, but that's only because he wants _him_ to follow, not her.

"Wait," May cries desperately, taking a few steps towards them and outstretching her hand; Maxie stops dead in his tracks, and Archie stares at her, his mouth twitching lightly as if he wants to say something to her. The former glances back, red eyes settling upon her form for a long time, but he doesn't move. "what're you going to do now? Where are you going? Please..."

No reply comes. The Team Aqua leader looks at her and Maxie - he seems to be having the exact same trouble talking to her as the other man. He seems to sense something in Maxie's eyes, though, as his face sets, having made a decision.

Archie kneels down, bringing his face to her eye level. He looks straight into her eyes, once-steely blue eyes meeting green - and as she stares at him, he offers her one genuine, but sorrowful smile.

"Thank you, May."

He stands up and nods at her, not even waiting for a response as he turns away and rejoins the Team Magma leader. Together they slowly walk away, head bent, suddenly looking like two weary travellers who can barely stand to go any further; they seem so tired, and anyone with a decent soul looking at them now wouldn't have hesitated to offer them shelter. She sure knows that _she's_ desperate to.

But May knows that she can't stop them. They're now without a thing in the world apart from each other and their respective Pokemon; they are too proud to accept any help from her, and they will most likely build themselves up again even without any other aid. They belong in a world completely separate from hers, and there's nothing she can do about it. May stands there and watches them go; she could still run after them. She could grab hold of them. She could go down on her knees and beg for them to come with her, or at least stop by her Base to get some rest. She could even use force to drag them there if she wanted to, they don't stand a chance against her and her Pokemon. But she doesn't, because that would be the most pointless thing she will ever do.

She carries on staring after the two. They look back again at the top of the stairs going down the summit, both of them looking at her with a mixture of regret, guilt and a poignant sadness - (and dare she say it, _longing_?) - before resuming their way down the mountain and forever out of her life. Just before they disappear completely, though, she sees Maxie reach out and clasp Archie's hand in his; and knows she truly cannot do more because she is a _girl_ and they are both _men _- men who've chosen to lean on each other for support - and with a sigh, lets them slip away. However naive and sincere their motives were, they are not young and May's just not qualified to help them, because there's still more yet she doesn't understand. What she cannot provide Archie and Maxie will learn from each other.

It feels like eternity before the old lady comes up to her, laying a wrinkled hand on her shoulder.

"They'll be all right, child," she says gently. "they will manage fine."

May nods, and suddenly has to fight back an urge to start crying. She sniffs hard to stop the tears, slowly walking back to the patch of grass she'd been in, feeling utterly helpless.

She realises she is still a child after all.

* * *

"... It's not like we'll see her again, Maxie. Not for a long time, at the very least."

"That's for the best," the redhead replies, his eyes downcast, but his saddened expression betrays his real feelings. "I don't deny that May is strong, but she is only a child and we can't burden her, Archie. We've done enough. Better for us to disppear now. She will grow up and move on with her life - and we'll be forgotten..." as Archie moves ahead to walk alongside him, he turns his head and smiles sadly. "so all I've got left now are my Pokemon and my archnemesis, it seems."

"_Ex_-archnemesis," Archie corrects, and glances back regretfully where May still stands, staring at them. "true on my count as well. But... May was a promising spirit. I won't lie; she may forget us, but I won't be forgetting her anytime soon."

Maxie stops and glances back also, and only gives a barely-noticeable nod in response to Archie's statement. But that's enough for the other to understand that the redhead shares the same feelings as him; they both look back at May for what seems like hours, but in reality is no more than a few seconds, knowing that it will be the last time. The girl stares back at them, confusion and sadness etched on her face, and although neither will admit it the expression on her face is enough to tug at both of the men's heartstrings. But May is still a girl, with much yet to see and sorrow for, and the two can only gaze at her and embed her image in their minds forever.

The Team Aqua leader is the first to turn away, followed suit by the other man.

"We must get going. No more looking back at her." Maxie states, and this time he starts descending the stairs in long, purposeful strides; he's finished all of his business here, and there is no turning back. He subconsciously grasps the other's hand in the process, holding it tight, pulling him closer to him and further away from the girl - reminding the other that they've only got each other to rely on now.

Archie says nothing. But he has seen the Magma Emblem pinned to a corner of her bag, and knows that Maxie noticed the same. He didn't miss the latter's small, sad but self-satisfied smile upon seeing the memento he has unwittingly left her, either; and before he follows the redhead with a sigh, he wishes that he too had left May something to remember him by.

Somewhere, behind them, a sweet elusive chime sounds.


End file.
